Trivialities

27 Feb 2009
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I begin today with an introspection on modern infrastructure, as it applies to our daily lives. My first thought when I woke this morning was of an agenda today, consisting of a seemingly important task that need not be named. Upon closer inspection, though, this task seems so trivial that it borders on frivolous. Our day-to-day operations consist of nothing but these trivialities, it seems... car registration renewals, bill paying, dry cleaning, etc. To be clear, I am a fan of the general concept of the progression of society... in fact, without this progression, I wouldn't be able to share these thoughts with the world so effortlessly, or so easily make my breakfast, or delve into part six of "Anna Karenina" when I finish this rant. At what point, though, does it hinder our ability to live our lives as they should be led? As I write these words, there is a small child (of whom I am terribly fond) playing at my feet, and as I look down on him, his smile and the radiance in his eyes only further reminds me that ninety percent of my day-to-day life is remarkably inconsequential. Thousands of years ago, if a father wanted to spend hours in a field, remarking on the wonders of the passing clouds with his daughter, what was to stop him from doing so? By the time the Middle Ages crept to the present timeline, the trivialities had already begun to envelop the lives of man, although in a different form. Politics and bank notes and arranged marriages... the list never ends. Today, the operations of a typical human life consist of more seemingly unimportant events and tasks that it becomes difficult to function in a way that highlights the remarkable without ignoring the menial. If the menial falls by the wayside in current society, the consequences can be disastrous... one can't ignore paying bills, renewing car registration, etc. Will we ever reach a point that will allow us to harness the truly wonderful, the truly incredible aspects of our existence while still being able to maintain an existence as an active participant in our world? Or are we doomed to progress more and more quickly towards a world in which the unremarkable finally takes over completely and unhindered, to a world in which we are chained forever to these man-made trivialities?

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Rob Boone

Writer, editor, professional wonderer.
I love silence, coffee, and great books. I hate small talk, despair, and game shows.